Embarrassing health problems solved

Eek! Got a cringe-worthy health dilemma? Here's how to get the better of embarrassing problems.

Women spend years and hundreds of pounds trying to remedy or disguise a vast range of what's seen as 'embarrassing problems'. But behind the awkward veil that surrounds these issues, solutions are easy to find.

Smells like methane spirit
There are many things that nice girls aren't supposed to do and breaking wind in public is one. But whether she likes to admit to it or not, the average woman farts around seven times a day. And while that's about half the amount of the opposite sex, the bad news is that our emissions smell measurably worse than men's.

Of course, this is a normal bodily function – the result of excess gases that build up in the intestinal gut as a result of certain types of food we've eaten and air that is swallowed with that food. But excessive wind can be mortifying in social situations. Here are a few simple rules you can follow to help minimise its risk.

Diet should be your first port of call: foods containing high levels of unabsorbable carbohydrate include beans, peas, raisins and broccoli, along with fruit juice (and slimming products containing sorbitol or fructose instead of sugar) can all be blamed for increased wind. Onions, tomatoes and mint, on the other hand, encourage belching.

Eating too quickly, hot and fizzy drinks, even smoking and chewing gum, can all increase the amount of air we swallow. Ease up on these and you should see noticeable improvements in what's being released. Try loosening your clothing too – some air in the stomach is natural and tight clothing can force it to escape.

If you're worried your problem is medical, consult your doctor. Certain intestinal diseases list excessive wind as a symptom and constipation can exacerbate it, while users of some diabetes medication have reported problems too. Childbirth is another factor – a quarter of women are unable to control wind five months after giving birth due to loss of muscle tightness in and around the anus following labour.

The other option of course is to hold it all in. But, impracticalities aside, some experts actually believe that could lead to certain bowel diseases. A campaign in Holland in the early Nineties even encouraged people to let rip up to 15 times a day – for the good of their health, of course.

Hair today, gone tomorrow…
While most of us are used to bleaching or waxing our upper lips, depilating our legs and underarms and keeping our bikini lines groomed to perfection, this is more extreme for some of us than others. Visible moustaches, hair on the nipples, shoulders, chest, or lower abdomen – all of these leave many women embarrassed and distressed about their physical appearance, knocking their confidence and leading to insecurity in other areas of their lives.

One of the most common preconceptions is that women who suffer from excessive hairiness have too much of the male hormone testosterone in their systems. But in most cases it's skin that's extra-sensitive to the hormone that actually encourages the growth. For many, this is genetic – find out if your mother or aunts were the same at your age.

The good news is that there are many treatments available to help you cope. For topical remedies, Bleaching works well at disguising upper lip hairs. Shaving is effective but frustratingly short-term in its results – try sugaring or waxing, which both pull the hair from its follicle for a longer-term (up to six weeks), but still temporary reprieve.

Laser treatment is another option. It removes hair for up to six months, but is not suitable for everyone – the laser may destroy the pigment around the hair, leaving light patches of skin, while dark hair responds best to the treatment.

Perhaps most effective of all is electrolysis, which actually destroys the hair at its root. However this can be expensive and painful. The key is to find the treatment that works best for you.

In some rare instances, however, a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (POS – an imbalance of the adrenal and pituitary glands coupled with ovarian cysts) does actually increase levels of testosterone, and some drugs – including certain long-term steroids – might also encourage growth. One of the side effects of POS is obesity and something as simple as losing weight can help. Consult your doctor if you're worried that your condition might be affected by one of these.

Scratching that itch
One of the most delicate problems women have to suffer day-to-day is that of feminine itching. It might be all very well for a man to fiddle about in his trouser pocket in public readjusting himself, but for a woman such behaviour is taboo.

Contrary to what you might think, sexually transmitted infections rarely cause itching 'down there'. Far more likely culprits are skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis (it is only skin, after all), tight clothing, stress, allergies caused by anything from hygiene products to washing powder, and fungal infections such as thrush.

Make an appointment to see your doctor. Many women misdiagnose itching around the vulva (mistaking eczema caused by an allergy for thrush, for example) and treat it with over-the-counter remedies that subsequently fail to work or lead to a quick recurrence of the problem. Your doctor will diagnose the condition successfully and recommend the best form of treatment for you.

Which is not to say that there aren't some proactive things that you can do to stop a recurrence or prevent irritation in the first place. Consider what you think might be causing you problems – eliminate perfumed personal hygiene products from your medicine cabinet or change your brand of washing powder if you suspect they might be the cause. Wear cotton kickers that allow the area to 'breathe' and avoid swimming in heavily chlorinated pools that might aggravate an existing condition (although adding a couple of spoonfuls of salt to your bath can be very soothing).

If the itching's particularly bad, wearing cotton gloves in bed at night lessens the chance of making it worse with night-time scratching. And if you can put up with the mess, applications of natural yoghurt can help to calm things down – particularly for conditions such as thrush.

Most of all, don't be ashamed. This is one of the most common female complaints, something we all suffer from at some point. So talk to friends, too. Even if they can't help with the symptoms, they'll certainly be able to lend you the kind of been-there-done-that support you need.

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